We’re working our way through The Enemy Within by Kris Lundgaard in my Friday morning men’s group. The book is inspired by and takes its cues from two of Puritan Bible teacher John Owen’s works on the mortification of sin. The book itself is incredibly challenging… and more than a little bit convicting.
Here’s a passage from chapter four, which we’re studying this week:
Which is easier: to sit with a bucket of butter-soaked popcorn and watch Tom Cruise on the big screen for two hours, or to kneel and pray for five minutes? Tom Cruise wins hands down, because there is literally no competition. What the flesh hates is God, so it resists anything that smacks of God—especially communion with him. the flesh can curl up by your side and watch mindless movies all night long. But let even the barest thought of meditations flutter into your mind, and the flesh goes to Red Alert. Before you get past “Our Father,” your eyes, which were glued to the screen, now sag in sleepiness, and your attention, which was so fixed on the plot, now zips around the universe faster than the Starship Enterprise. [p. 46]
This happens to me far more often than I’d like to admit. Whether I’m trying to pray, read my Bible, write a blog post or an article, work on my Systematic Theology certificate… I get incredibly distracted. Even now, as I’ve been typing this I’ve started yawning and getting drowsy.
But I guarantee that if I stop and check my Twitter feed or play a game on my iPhone, I’ll be just fine.
Because the flesh loves those things.
But it hates anything that makes me think about God.
“For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other, to keep you from doing the things you want to do,” wrote Paul (Gal. 5:17). If this is true, then we must oppose the desires of the flesh and pursue godliness.
Because our natural selves want nothing more than to see each of us enslaved to sin.
Got any practical tips on how you’ve been doing this lately?
Great post. This is EXACTLY the reason I’m disabling my fb account for the summer. . . . . . .
That is a great idea! I’ve thought about doing that for a period of time, but I’m honestly kind of wary – I use it for a lot of my regular communication at this point with friends.